François Mabille is a research associate at the Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques (IRIS) and the director of the Observatoire géopolitique du religieux. In his latest book, Le Vatican: La papauté face à un monde en crise (Eyrolles, 216 pages, €20), he analyzes the role and influence of the Holy See in international relations.
In these times of geopolitical upheaval and against a backdrop of the war in Kyiv, the hospitalized Pope Francis is unable to speak out. Nevertheless, does the Church have a message for the world?
In the Church's traditional vision, we are all one humanity, regardless of borders. From the Second World War, the Holy See has been a staunch defender of multilateralism and international organizations, such as the United Nations. And on the issue of Ukraine, the Vatican is not at a standstill, despite the pope's hospitalization.
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States [the Holy See's foreign affairs minister], recently made two strong statements. In an interview with America magazine on February 28, and in an address to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on February 25, when he reiterated the Vatican's support for a just and lasting peace, based on international law.
However, that's not quite what Pope Francis has said in the past. When he called for "the courage to raise the white flag," he was referring to the Ukrainians, not to the Russians nor to international intervention, to stop the invasion.
That's where the ambiguity lies in the Holy See's diplomacy: The Pope's diplomacy, based on media interventions and a call for peace at all costs, without taking into account the requirements of international law and without condemning the aggressor – in this sense a diplomacy close to that of Donald Trump – must be separated from that of the curia [Church government], which is much more traditional.
So in your view, aside from Francis' example, ambiguity of this sort has been a structural element from the time the Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929.
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